money & Banking

The things you should NEVER buy from Kmart

With Kmart quickly becoming a staple in many households around Australia, consumer advocacy group Choice has come out with a list of what you should and shouldn’t buy from the discount department store.

The team at Choice has confirmed that while some products deliver a premium product for a low price, there are others you’re better off avoiding.

Things you SHOULDN’T buy from Kmart:

The $189 trampoline

Although the trampoline is cheap, it comes fraught with dangers as the advocacy group identified four major safety failures. The trampoline also had a low score of 20 per cent after being rigorously tested.

The $55 heater

The Anko heater didn’t rate well in testing done by Choice, as it took “more than 57 minutes to raise the temperature in our test room by 5ºC”.

The overall score for the heater was a low 48 per cent.

The director of reviews and testing brutally reviewed the heater and said it’s “pretty much a warm doorstop”.

The luggage testers put the luggage through its paces, by dousing them in water, dropping them from a select height and trying everything they can to break the luggage.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have to try very hard with the Kmart Hard Case large luggage.

The luggage itself also had other issues, as there is no TSA lock and the “extendable handle is OK to use, you just need to make sure the handle is straight,” according to the review on Choice.

Things you SHOULD buy from Kmart:

The $89 coffee machine

In testing done by Choice, they confirmed that the Anko coffee machine will give you the best bang for your buck. It outperformed a $949 coffee machine on flavour and consistently pumped out hot coffees.

The $149 kids’ playpen

Choice were pleased to announce that the Kmart playpen is one of the few playpens that passed key safety requirements. Although there are no Australian requirements for playpens, the group tested them to international standards.

The playpen also comes with a latched gate, so you don’t need to lift your grandchildren over the fence.

The $49 carry-on suitcase

The Active & Co 45.5cm soft carry-on suitcase scored 100 per cent in the Choice ‘lift and drop’ test and scored 86 per cent overall. However, the consumer advocacy group have warned that not all luggage available from Kmart is as solid or sturdy as the one they tested, as there are a few poor performers (see ‘The $58 large hard suitcase’ above).

Scroll through the gallery above to see all the items you SHOULD and SHOULDN'T buy from Kmart.